On December 26, 2023, Israeli military forces arrested Hamad Taqatqa from his West Bank home in Beit Fajjar, a town 18 miles south of Bethlehem, handcuffed and blindfolded him, seized his cell phones and a Canon camera, and took him away, according to the Palestinian press freedom group MADA, the Beirut-based regional press freedom organization SKeyes, and news reports. Israeli authorities released Taqatqa on March 25, 2025, after 15 months in detention.
Taqatqa contributes to the Bethlehem-based radio station Radio Baladna and the news agency Palestine News Network (PNN), among others.
On January 11, 2024, the military court in Ofer prison, in the West Bank, where Taqatqa was initially held, charged him with “incitement on social media, supporting a terrorist organization, and influencing public opinion in a way that may harm public order,” according to his brother Wael Taqatqa, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. CPJ also reviewed court documents confirming the charges.
The charges relate to several posts he shared on his Facebook and Telegram accounts, which have 13,000 followers and over 8,000 subscribers respectively, between October 7 and 10, 2023, the court documents show.
After his release, Taqatqa told CPJ that Israeli forces had confiscated two cell phones, his camera, and related equipment during the arrest and never returned them.
He was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined 6,000 shekels (US$1,700), he said, adding that if he were to beconvicted of incitement again within the next three years, he would face another 15-month sentence and an additional fine of 5,000 shekels (US$1,300).
He also said prison guards severely beat him, causing a fractured rib cage, severe inflammation from gas exposure, and bruises on his neck.
Taqatqa was among the journalists whose testimony was included in the CPJ special report, “We returned from hell,” published in February 2026, which compiles accounts from 58 journalists who reported patterns of abuse, torture, and mistreatment against Palestinian journalists inside Israeli prisons.
The Israeli military did not respond to CPJ’s repeated requests for comment on specific allegations by journalists in the report, instead requesting ID numbers and geographic coordinates that CPJ does not collect or provide. When asked about allegations of physical and sexual abuse, starvation, and the investigation and accountability process, an army spokesperson said “individuals detained are treated in accordance with international law,” adding that the armed forces “have never, and will never, deliberately target journalists,” and that any violations of protocol “will be looked into.”
CPJ also emailed the Israel Prison Service (IPS) regarding the allegations in the report. In response, the IPS said “all prisoners are detained according to the law” and that “all basic rights are fully upheld by professionally trained prison guards.” The service said it was unaware of the claims described, and that to its knowledge “no such events have occurred,” but noted that “prisoners and detainees have the right to file a complaint that will be fully examined and addressed by official authorities.”